Reading with Purpose

We’re often told that writers need to read...a lot. But reading more books isn't necessarily the goal—reading with purpose is.

Not every book needs to be read in the same way. Some stories are meant to sweep you along. You read quickly, turning pages because you need to know what happens next. Others ask you to slow down and pay attention to the language, the images, the ideas, the rhythm of the sentences.

Consider This Is How You Lose the Time War, the Hugo and Nebula Award winning novella by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. It's a book that rewards a slower kind of reading. The language is poetic and inventive, and sometimes a single sentence is worth sitting with for a moment before moving on. Plus, the plot is wonderful! Two rival time-traveling assassins fight a war across time, leaving messages for each other in the aftermath of the battles—and eventually (not going to spoil it) they either kill each other OR fall in love.

One of my favorite lines in the book is:

“Even an immortal can only ride the Circle line so long.”

Of course you need to understand the London Underground to fully appreciate the joke, but once you do, it’s absolutely hilarious. The Circle line is, quite literally, a never-ending circle. There is nowhere to go but around and around. The idea of an immortal being driven to the brink by an endless journey around London made me laugh far harder than I expected. And that's just one line buried on page 176 of the 198-page book!

That's part of what I mean by reading with purpose. Let the book tell you how it wants to be read.

If you're reading for pleasure, allow yourself to disappear into the story. If you're reading to study writing craft, slow down when a passage catches your attention. Ask yourself what made you stop. If you're reading to understand an unfamiliar perspective, resist the urge to skim past the parts that challenge you.

And if you're a writer, remember that reading isn't only about collecting stories. It's about filling your creative well.

Notice what moves you.

Notice what surprises you.

Notice what makes you laugh.

Notice what stays with you long after you've closed the book.

Remember: You don't have to analyze every paragraph. You don't even have to know why something works. Sometimes the purpose of reading is simply to savor the words.

My advice? Be present enough to notice when a book gives you something worth savoring.